As the final horn sounded on Thursday night, the scoreboard showed a 5-2 Flyers victory over the Winnipeg Jets. It marked one of the Flyers more impressive games of the season.
In December, the Flyers showed character with a win over the Jets by rallying for two goals in the third and scoring the game-winning goal 10 seconds into overtime. This time, the Flyers controlled the game against a team that had won five of their last six games.
And they used some very unlikely heroes to do so.
Nick Schultz scored the game-winning goal, but also added two hits and two blocked shots. Luke Schenn and Michael Del Zotto had assists, and combined for seven hits and three blocked shots. All three have seen increased ice time in the wake of injuries.
For the entire season, the talk has been about secondary scoring. The Flyers third straight win not only marked a minor winning streak for a team desperate to fire on all cylinders, it marked a game where the top players and the top line didn't do all of the hard work.
Every Flyers line factored into a goal. Not on the scoresheet at the end of the game: Claude Giroux. Jake Voracek assisted on a goal by Wayne Simmonds in the first. Ten different Flyers contributed points – including newcomers to the lineup Ryan White and Petr Straka.
"I think our starts have been good," head coach Craig Berube said, "getting everyone involved right away. The physical play and the skating are noticeable."
"Winnipeg plays a fast game," Brayden Schenn said. "We don't tend to play that kind of hockey, but sometimes it's going to happen. It obviously nice to score a few goals."
The Flyers win over Pittsburgh wasn't much an interpretation of their makeup. The Flyers have always showed energy and passion against their cross-state rival. In their two games against the Jets, the Flyers showed similar energy and will to compete that set them apart from the opposition.
That will is a sense of urgency in all areas – power play, penalty kill and even strength; offensive and defensive zone. The Flyers succeeded in all areas on Thursday.
The power play had two chances in the game – surprising given the Jets were the second-most penalized team entering the game – but they made the most of them. Simmonds cashed in for a goal in the closing seconds of the first power play. The Flyers nearly scored on the second as well.
"We have to make plays like that for the rest of the year," Simmonds said. "I'm just trying to lead by example."
The Flyers played their most disciplined game of the season on Tuesday, taking just one penalty. On Thursday, they gave Winnipeg five power-play chances. They allowed one goal, continuing a string of solid penalty kill over the last four games.
"I think up-ice pressure to start it," Berube said, "and then in-zone just really good puck pressure everywhere."
Perhaps most importantly, the Flyers tested rookie goalie Michael Hutchinson. Hutchinson entered the game with a 1.90 GAA. The Flyers managed to score four goals on him, three at even strength.
Winnipeg also entered with the NHL's best road record. The Flyers didn't flinch, even after grinding through a back-and-forth first period. Mathieu Perreault scored two goals in the period before the Flyers defense shut down the Jets for the rest of the game. A frustrating night in the offensive zone for the Jets created more chances for the Flyers.
"We did a real good job on our breakouts," Berube said. "I thought our wall play was really good. Our defensemen were jumping up on the play nicely."
"I think we did a great job collectively," Simmonds said. "We had a lot of clean breakouts which led to a lot of odd-man rushes. It was a good game for us."
For the third straight game, the Flyers took more than 35 shots – finishing with 38. The Flyers took 40 shots against Pittsburgh last Tuesday and 42 against Arizona this Tuesday, all home games. The win on Thursday improved the Flyers home record to 14-7-3.
"You can't give up until you're mathematically eliminated," Schultz said. "Stranger things have happened. We're playing pretty good hockey at home. We've got to translate that over to our road games."
It makes you wonder what if this was the Flyers team that had played over the middle months of the season and didn't go on lengthy losing streaks. What would the outlook be?
But the Flyers can't focus on the past, just the future. The chance at a fourth straight win comes on Saturday.
"Obviously we know we don't have a whole lot of time. We've got to play desperate hockey," Schenn said. "We've got to come to the rink each night and worry about our two points."
"It's a great team to be a part of," Schultz said. "Guys are battling hard. No one's giving up here. We're working hard every night. Hopefully we can build on this and keep grinding away."
When the Flyers discuss playoff hopes, it's easy to take it with a grain of salt, and winning games like the Flyers shootout win over the Coyotes on Tuesday – a dirty, but good, win – doesn't make the picture any brighter.
Wins like the one on Thursday do though, and the Flyers did it with unlikely sources of scoring. Not a bad way to return from a break.
Kevin Durso is managing editor for Flyerdelphia. Follow him on Twitter @Kevin_Durso.
